Is this SpaceNavigator issue a Blender problem or an OS/Driver problem?
The short answer is: Blender doesn't look at the setting of the 3Dconnexion you make in the OS X system preferences for the SpaceNavigator or other 3D mice.


Without the Mac drivers from 3Dconnexion.com, Blender doesn't recognize the SpaceNavigator (It's spelled as one word/name, no typo). It will move the mouse cursor in a 2D style like in the Finder.
With the Mac OS X drivers / System panel installed, Blender recognizes the SpaceNavigator / 3D-mouse, but while orbiting, the axis from the mouse do not correspond to the axis in the application. This is because Blender assumes you want to move the viewport camera aka your screen preview. Most people will know this mode from FPS (First Person Shooter) games. This is generally called Camera Mode. This can be frustrating if you want to work on your model and therefore keep it centered (Object Mode view).
Fortunately, orbiting in Object Mode is possible. Select the object you want to rotate, if you have more than one, and hold down the CTRL key.


It took me a week to figure this all out. That's why I'm writing an in depth article about using the SpaceNavigator with Blender on Mac OS X on buijs.pro